Simon the Fiddler (Jiles) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for SIMON THE FIDDLER … then take off on your own

1. Talk about Simon Boudlin; what kind of a person is he? Is he an idealist, a realist, a romantic … or all three?

2. In a particularly lyrical passage, Jiles writes of her hero:

To Simon, the world of musical structures was far more real than the shoddy saloons in which he had to play.… It existed outside him. It was better than he was. He was always on foot in that world, an explorer in busted shoes.

How does the passage describe not just Simon but all of us—especially our capacity to sense the transcendent nature of art? Does art—music, painting and sculpture, literature, or drama—affect you in a similar manner?

3. Describe the land of Texas and the turmoil of its people as the Civil War winds down. Consider the Union occupying forces, the poverty, disease, and violence.

4. What do you think of Doris. Talk about her "situation" vis-a-vis Col. Webb, which is just as precarious as Simon's.

5. Some reviewers (New York Times and Wall Street Journal) feel that the romance between Simon and Doris hits a false note, that it is "ludicrously melodramatic." Others have found in it the promise of hope in a troubled world. What do you think?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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